Photobioreactor Systems Positioned on Bodies of Water

Abstract

Certain embodiments and aspects of the present invention relate to a photobioreactor including photobioreactor units through which a liquid medium stream and a gas stream flow. The photobioreactor units are floated on a body of water such as a pond or a lake. The liquid medium comprises at least one species of phototrophic organism therein. Certain methods of using the photobioreactor system as part of fuel generation system and / or a gas-treatment process or system at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a gas stream. In certain embodiments, the photobioreactor units are formed of flexible, deformable material and are configured to provide a substantially constant thickness of liquid medium. In certain embodiments, a barrier between the photobioreactor unit and the body of water upon which the unit is floated facilitates thermal communication between the liquid medium and the body of water.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 110,178 filed on Apr. 25, 2008 and entitled “Photobioreactor Systems Positioned on Bodies of Water” which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications 60 / 926,569 and 60 / 926,622, both filed on Apr. 27, 2007 and both also entitled “Photobioreactor Systems Positioned on Bodies of Water,” all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of Invention[0003]The invention relates generally to photobioreactors, particularly floating photobioreactors, and processes to operate and use the photobioreactors for the production of biomass, and for the treatment of gases, such as flue gases and / or carbon dioxide-enriched gases.[0004]2. Discussion of the Related Art[0005]The global market for fossil feedstocks for transportation fuels is increasingly characterized by tight supplies and threats resulting from geopolitical instab...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The system effectively recaptures CO2, produces valuable biomass, and reduces carbon emissions while minimizing land and water usage, offering a scalable and efficient method for biofuel production.

Problems solved by technology

The global market for fossil feedstocks for transportation fuels is increasingly characterized by tight supplies and threats resulting from geopolitical instability leading to increasing calls for clean, reliable, domestic sources of liquid fuel.

Production of ethanol derived from corn is rapidly increasing to meet this demand, urged on by government incentives, but the net energy gain of corn ethanol is modest at best, and the feedstock is subject to competitive demand from food and feed markets.

Cellulosic ethanol derived from switchgrass and crop residues is an area of active research, but the process is not economical at present, and significant progress is needed to make it competitive.

Certain previous efforts at using algae for fuel production or carbon dioxide mitigation have employed different approaches but because of various problems, addressed by certain embodiments of the present invention, they have encountered various difficulties that have limited their technical and commercial success.

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